A unanimous City Council vote on Wednesday to pass a resolution officially representing Cincinnati's opposition to the proposed H.B. 203, Ohio's own version of controversial "Stand Your Ground" laws, is part of a statewide advocacy effort to oppose loosening restrictions on the use of deadly force.

The vote puts Cincinnati in the middle of a national dialogue that's been ongoing since the death of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., in 2012.

The bill, introduced by House Republicans on June 11, contains several revisions to the state's gun laws, the most controversial of which is the proposal to expand the circumstances in which a person has no duty to retreat from a threatening situation before using force in self-defense. Those in opposition to the bill worry that changewill encourage vigilante justice and give gun owners a false sense of entitlement in using their firearms in otherwise non-violent situations.

The bill's language also loosens restrictions on concealed carry permits and would make it easier for individuals subject to protection orders to obtain handguns.

State Rep. Alicia Reece spoke at a Wednesday press conference at City Hall to support Cincinnati's formal opposition to the bill. Reece, also president of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, is part of its statewide campaign to garner enough opposition to H.B. 203 to present to Gov. John Kasich and other legislative leaders.

She says OLBC has already collected about 5,000 petitions and hopes to obtain more than 10,000 by the time the Ohio House of Representatives resumes regular sessions on Oct. 2.

Reece and Councilwoman Yvette Simpson, who sponsored the resolution, insist that Ohio's self-defense laws are already strong enough to protect those who face physical threats from others. In 2008, then-Gov. Ted Strickland signed Ohio's "Castle Doctrine" into law, which stripped homeowners of the duty to try to retreat in threatening situations and gives them the "benefit of the doubt" when they injure or kill a person who enters their residence or vehicle.

"While many states around the country which have Stand Your Ground laws are looking at ways in which they can repeal those laws, or change those laws, unfortunately Ohio is moving backwards by trying to implement Stand Your Ground laws, which has become one of the most polarizing issues not only in the state of Ohio, but in the country," said Reece at Wednesday's press conference.

The efficacy of stand-your-ground laws to reduce violence is widely debated; several researches insist that the laws actually cause an increase in homicides. Mark Hoekstra, an economist with Texas A&M University, published a study that found homicides increase 7 to 9 percent in states that pass stand your ground laws, compared to states that didn't pass laws over the same period. His study found no evidence the laws had an effect on deterring crime during the time period. Those statistics are difficult to gauge, however, because some homicides are legitimately considered "justifiable" while others may just be the result of the "escalation of violence in an otherwise non-violent situation," he told NPR in January.

H.B. 203 is currently waiting to be heard in front of the Policy and Legislative Oversight committee. See an analysis of the bill below:

Cincinnati asks state to overturn law preventing cities from regulating oil and gas drilling

Cincinnati City Council continued its effort to prevent a
controversial method of drilling for oil and gas by passing a resolution
on Wednesday asking the state to allow the city to make its own
regulatory laws.

The resolution expresses council’s dissatisfaction with
the Ohio Legislature for granting “special privileges to the oil and
natural gas industry” and asks it to repeal any laws that pre-empt local
control over drilling.

The resolution targets the controversial practice of
hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” which uses chemically-laced water to
free up natural gas trapped in shale formations underneath Ohio.

Fracking opponents worry that the chemicals used in the
fluid — which companies aren’t required to disclose — can be toxic to
people and animals.

Prior to the council vote, Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls and
Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan held a news conference on the steps of City
Hall.

“I believe local officials should have a say on all
matters related to potentially hazardous activities such as fracking,”
Quinlivan said in an emailed statement.“I urge my colleagues to send a strong message to the Ohio
Governor, the Ohio Legislature, and Cincinnati residents by passing
this resolution.”

A 2004 state law puts regulation of oil and gas drilling
under the state’s purview, preventing municipalities from regulating
drilling on their land.

Copies of the resolution will be sent to Gov. John Kasich
and members of the Ohio General Assembly elected from the Cincinnati
area. The resolution comes after Ohio recently lifted a
moratorium on new injection wells, which shoot wastewater deep
underground for storage.

There had been a temporary ban on new wells almost a year
ago after seismologists said an injection was to blame for 11
earthquakes around the Youngstown area.

City council in August passed an ordinance to band
injection wells within city limits. Because the injection well ban
doesn’t mention drilling, council hoped it wouldn’t clash with the state
law preventing local regulation of oil and gas drilling.

Says it will add to state budges, hurt public safety and lead to unnecessary incarcerations

There are certain institutions in the U.S. that we don't like to think of as strictly profit-seeking endeavors. It can be difficult to swallow that (supposedly) do-good establishments like retirement homes, textbook companies and hospitals exist to bring in revenue rather than serve the needs of a community without waiver. In Ohio, one state prison is already that — a business — and others could soon follow suit.

The idea to privatize Ohio prisons was concocted by Gov. John Kasich in an attempt to fill an $8 billion hole in Ohio's budget. The sale brought in an extra $50 million to use in balancing Ohio's prison budget.

Kasich's budget strategy included an overhaul of Ohio's Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, which means that private prison facility owners would actually benefit from more incarcerations. Now, CCA has made an offerto 48 U.S. states to buy and privatize state prisons. The offer, the Corrections Investment Initiative, outlines CCA's plan to spend up to $250 million on state, local and federal entities and then manage the facilities. According to the CCA's statement from Harley Lappin, Chief Corrections
Officer at CCA, they're only interested in buying facilities that are willing to sign over rights of ownership to the CCA for a minimum of 20 years, and states must agree to keep the facilities at least 90 percent full.

With six million Americans in the corrections system, the U.S. already has the highest rates of incarceration in the world — including per capita and in absolute terms — surpassing countries like Iran, China and Russia. CCA'S website glorifies its mission as noble; a video on the home page shows a patriotic, proudly waving flag. Text touts its strategies as forward-thinking and altruistic, noting that they are "protecting public safety, employing the best people in solid careers,
rehabilitating inmates, giving back to communities, and bringing
innovative security to government corrections."

The ACLU of Ohio has issued a statement strongly opposing the change; it argues that privatizing state prisons will add debt to state budges, hurt public safety and lead to more unnecessary incarcerations. According to "Prisons for Profit: A Look at Prison Privatization," a report published by ACLU-Ohio, privately-run prisons only offer a short-term infusion of cash, not long-term savings. "Cost savings in privately run facilities [like those run by CCA] are achieved by cutting the pay of workers," says Mike Bricker, ACLU Director of Communications and Public Policy. Corrections officers in private facilities make significantly less and receive far less benefits than those in public facilities. This difference, he says, results in an astronomically higher turnover rate in private facilities. "When something bad happens, they leave," he says.

The high turnover rate makes for a consistently less experienced staff, which means officers aren't as well-prepared when a bad situation does arise. He cites an example when cutting corners came at a high price: A CCA-run Youngstown facility that opened in 1997 brought in 1,700 violent inmates from Washington, D.C. at what was supposed to be a medium-security prison. Over the course of a year, there were 16 stabbings, two murders and six escapes; the situation became such a concern to the community that Youngstown sued CCA in 1998 and the facility was shut down.

According to Brickner, the smallest incident is enough to negate the short-term revenue from privatizing prisons; when the main objective is profit, privatized prisons want to book non-violent offenders who won't be in facilities for a long period of time. That means cells become overcrowded when minor offenders could be in rehabilitation, and extremely violent detainees tend to be managed improperly.

"It is inherently wrong to allow private businesses to make a profit off
the incarceration of others," said Brickner in an ACLU press release. “Our state’s
prison system is bloated, and private corporations have a vested financial
interest to ensure our prisons remain full. If state officials have any hope of
shrinking our prison population, we must implement transformative criminal
justice reform policies and reject interests that grow our prison system.”

Brickner suggests that concerned citizens contact their elected representatives to express their opposition to privatizing prisons. Read the ACLU's full report on privatizing prisons here.

Governor makes offensive remark when GOP trails among women voters

At a Romney-Ryan rally near Cincinnati yesterday, Gov.
John Kasich made some remarks women voters might find offensive. When
describing what his wife and the wives of Mitt Romney, Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Rob Portman are
doing as the men attend political rallies, Kasich told Romney supporters the women are “at
home doing the laundry.”

The full quote: “It’s not easy to be a spouse of an
elected official. You know, they’re at home doing the laundry and doing
so many things while we’re up here on the stage getting a little bit of
applause, right? They don’t often share in it.”

The comments were quickly picked up by liberal blog Plunderbund, which criticized Kasich's history with women.

While the comment may be true (CityBeat could not
confirm if Karen Kasich was doing laundry while Kasich was speaking), it
does little for a political party already struggling with women voters.
In the latest poll from Public Policy Polling, Romney was down 10
points to Obama among women voters in Ohio. This is often attributed to
what Democrats labeled a “war on women” by Republicans to diminish
contraceptive and abortion rights. CityBeat previously covered the local and national political issues regarding women here.

Kasich had problems with public speaking in the past. In his 2012 State of the State speech, which The Hill
labeled “bizarre,” Kasich repeatedly mentioned his “hot wife,” imitated
a Parkinson’s patient and referred to Californians as “wackadoodles.”
In a previous statement, Kasich said he would run over opponents with a
bus. “If you’re not on the bus, we will run over you with the bus,” he
told lobbyists. “And I’m not kidding.”

Earlier today, Gov. John Kasich seemed tocome out in support of same-sex civil unions, but Kasich’s spokesperson says the governor was using the term “civil union” loosely and the governor is still against changing the Ohio Constitution to legalize same-sex civil unions and gay marriage.

“The governor’s position is unchanged,” wroteRob Nichols, Kasich’s spokesperson, in an email. “He opposes gay marriage and opposes changing Ohio’s Constitution to allow for civil unions. He’s opposed to discrimination against any Ohioan and, while he may have used the term ‘civil union’ loosely in this instance, he recognizes the existing rights of Ohioans to enter into private contracts to manage their personal property and health care issues.”

The clarification walked back earlier comments from Kasich, who told Scripps Media,“I’ve got friends that are gay and I’ve told them ‘Look,
(same-sex marriage) is just not something I agree with,’ and I’m not
doing it out of a sense of anger or judgment; it’s just my opinion on
this issue.”He added, “I just think marriage is between a man and a woman, but if you want to have a civil union, that's fine with me.”

The comments to Scripps Media prompted a response from Ian James,
co-founder of FreedomOhio, which is pushing an amendment that would
legalize same-sex marriage in Ohio.

“I hope Gov. Kasich understands civil unions are banned by
the Ohio Constitution as well and they are a cruel substitute for legal
marriage,” he said in a statement. “We need equal rights and family
security in Ohio for same-gender couples. That's why more and more
Republicans are making the right choice and stepping up to support
marriage equality.”

The comments from Kasich, who will run for his second term as governor in 2014 and is seen as a potential
presidential candidate in 2016, come during a period of renewed soul-searching
within the Republican Party. Most recently, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman announced his support of same-sex marriage two years after his son came out as gay. The change means both Ohio senators now support same-sex marriage.

A recent report from the Republican
National Committee acknowledged a generational divide on the same-sex
marriage issue: “Already, there is a generational difference within the
conservative movement about issues involving the treatment and the
rights of gays — and for many younger voters, these issues are a gateway
into whether the Party is a place they want to be.”

Not all Republicans agreed with the report, which sought to establish a new blueprint for Republicans in response to 2012’s
electoral losses. In a recent blog post,
Republican Rep. Steve Chabot wrote, “To me that (the report) sounds a whole lot like
accepting things like gay marriage, and being more liberal on abortion.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s a great way to alienate a lot of our
base who are still with us. Big mistake.”

Still, the report’s findings are supported by recent polling. A poll from The Washington Post
in September 2012 found about 52 percent of Ohioans support same-sex marriage, and
only 37 percent are against it, with a margin of error of 4.5 points.

Another poll from Pew Research Center found support for same-sex marriage is growing,
particularly because of the younger generations. Among U.S. adults, about 49
percent responded in support of same-sex marriage, and 44 percent were
in opposition.

The Pew survey found a stark generational divide: Millenials — adults born after 1980 — had particularly
pronounced support for same-sex marriage at 70 percent, and about 49
percent of Generation X individuals, meaning those born between 1965 and
1980, were also in support. But only 38 percent of baby boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 —
supported same-sex marriage, and only 31 percent of those born between 1928
and 1945 claimed support.

Supporting same-sex civil unions would have made Kasich a moderate by Republican standards. In the 2012
Republican presidential primaries, only former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman
supported civil unions, and the rest of the candidates stood
against same-sex marriage and civil unions.

In contrast, Democrats are now widely in favor of same-sex marriage. Marriage equality was embraced in the official Democratic platform in September 2012, and
President Barack Obama became the first sitting president to support gay
marriage in May 2012.

FreedomOhio’s amendment could be on the ballot as early as this year. CityBeat
previously covered the amendment’s potential benefits and challenges,
including some opposition from Equality Ohio, another LGBT group (“Evolution of Equality,” issue of Nov. 28).

Beyond giving equal rights to same-sex couples, gay
marriage could also bring economic benefits to Ohio. A study from Bill
LaFayette, founder of Regionomics LLC, found that legalizing gay
marriage would grow Ohio’s gross domestic product, which measures
economic worth, by $100 million to $126 million within three years.
Statewide, that would sustain 740 to 930 jobs within the first year of
legalization, 250 to 310 jobs within the second year and 170 to 210
within the third year. In Hamilton County alone, legalization would
produce $8.2 million in growth, according to the study.

The U.S. Supreme Court will take up same-sex marriage in two high-profile cases next week. The cases will deal with California’s Proposition 8 law, which made same-sex marriage illegal in the Golden State, and the Defense of Marriage Act, a law signed by former President Bill Clinton that made same-sex marriage illegal on a federal level.

Update (4:45 p.m.): This story was updated to reflect comments from Rob Nichols, Gov. John Kasich's spokesperson.

Kasich mandate to affect 10 percent of Ohio public schools, cost $2.1 million

Gov. John Kasich’s budget plan called for several large
reforms to fill an $8 billion hole in the state budget, but it appears teachers
are facing the brunt of Kasich’s larger changes. Aside from cutting funding
statewide for K-12 education, the plan mandates a reform not seen by educators
in any other state: required licensing tests for already-employed teachers at
schools ranking in the lowest 10 percentiles of Performance Index (PI) score
come September.

The PI of a given school is measured by its students’
achievement and Ohio General Test (OGT) test performance for grades 3 through 10. Schools with the lowest PIs (the scale ranks from 0-120) are designated on
“Academic Watch” or “Academic Emergency,” which suggests that an overall
student population is not meeting the state’s performance expectations. Core subjects examined include reading,
English language arts, math, science, government, economics, history, fine arts,
foreign language and geography. The next state report cards to monitor PI will
be released in August. Find old report cards here.

Kasich says that re-testing teachers is a way to hold
them more accountable for their performance and help school administrators
highlight ineffective teachers for removal. Those who oppose the reform say
Kasich is placing too much weight on the teachers, when other factors in
performance include community, family life and the students themselves.

PACE High School, a charter school focused on dropout recovery in Bond Hill, is
one of several Cincinnati schools ranking in that bottom 10 percent,
meaning it will fall under Kasich’s mandate. PACE achieved a 20.9 percent graduation
rate during that 2009-10 school year, which nearly doubled since 2007-08
year, when rates sunk to 10.9 percent. Still, every teacher at PACE will face re-licensing.

“If this testing is supposed to somehow automatically make
our schools better, I don’t get that,” says Steven Hawley, Executive Director
at PACE. "I know what it is politically — to look good. They think there must be some reason why these kids can't succeed."

Historically, Hawley says, schools with student populations of higher socioeconomic statuses and different demographics rank higher. And he has a point — schools with high performance index rates around Cincinnati include Mariemont City Schools, Indian Hill Exempted Village and Lakota Schools.

The Ohio Department of Education's State Report Card system compiles data from every school in a given district to create a district report card. PACE's Performance Index score in in 2010-11 school year was at 40.4. Cincinnati Public Schools earned an 87.3. Hawley insists PACE is full of wonderful kids, but that they're extraordinarily needy. Students come to PACE years behind schedule, he says.

“Gov. Kasich is all about the ‘American dream,’ ” Hawley says.
“Most of our kids don’t even know what the American dream is."

“There’s very little opportunity for people to have
meaningful dialogue to talk about why [schools like PACE] aren’t succeeding. ... I’d
invite the governor to live in the inner city. If we’re all going to be
measured the same, we’re all going to live the same,” Hawley says.

It’s still unclear whether the
state of Ohio would pay for the tests or have districts and charter schools
fund the testing, but the Ohio Education Association Teachers’ Union expects the
tests to cost around $2.1 million to administer to about 6,000 teachers across
the state.

Inspector General finds misuse of state resources, conflict of interest

Another day, another corrupt politician. Ohio's Inspector General released a report today stating that Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction Stan Heffner was found to be in a conflict of interest when he testified to a legislative committee in favor of increased educator testing.

Heffner had secured a position at Educational Testing Service (ETS) prior to the testimony. ETS is a Texas-based company that provides testing services to schools. The report found the bill Heffner testified for "ultimately did benefit" ETS.

In other words, Heffner, as the head of the Department of Education, testified in front of the Ohio legislature to secure a deal that benefited a company he was working for.

As if that wasn't enough, the investigation also found that Heffner was using state resources to negotiate his employment with ETS. According to the report, Heffner told John Oswald, vice president of K-12 Assessment Solutions for ETS, to contact him through his office email and state-issued cell phone.

So not only did Heffner testify in the Ohio legislature to benefit ETS, he also used taxpayer resources for employment negotiations with ETS.

The offices of Gov. John Kasich did not seem pleased with the development.

“He is doing a very good job as superintendent, but using official resources the way he did and demonstrating that kind of bad judgment is unacceptable," says Rob Nichols, spokesperson for Kasich. "The governor is confident that the State Board of Education understands that and will take the right steps.”

Debe Terhar, president of the State Board of Education of Ohio, released a statement in reaction to the investigation.

“I appreciate the Inspector General’s thorough report and am disturbed by its findings," Tehrar said. "State Superintendent Stan Heffner is a dedicated educator who is committed to the education reforms Ohio needs for our children, but in this matter he demonstrated a woeful lack of judgment."

In a different statement, Heffner apologized for his "lack of judgment."

The State Board of Education will discuss the results of the investigation in its scheduled Sept. 10 and 11 meetings.

A seven-member legislative board on Monday accepted
federal funding to expand Ohio’s Medicaid program to cover more
low-income Ohioans for the next two years.

Republican Gov. John Kasich originally attempted to get
the Medicaid expansion through the General Assembly, but he ultimately
bypassed the legislature after months of unsuccessfully
wrangling with members of his own political party to embrace the
expansion.

Kasich instead opted to go through the Controlling Board,
an obscure panel that typically handles less contentious budget issues
that keep with legislative intent.

Most Republican state representatives, including local Reps. Lou Terhar, Louis Blessing and Peter Stautberg, signed a letter
in protest of the tactic. The letter invokes legal arguments against
the governor’s decision and could be the basis for a lawsuit in the
future.

“Our protest is not about the merits or lack of merit in
expanding Medicaid,” the letter states. “Our protest goes to the
fundamental form of government upon which our country was founded — a
Republic of checks and balances and separation of powers.”

Republican legislators say they’re concerned about the
government’s involvement in the health care system and whether the
federal government can afford to pay for the Medicaid expansion. They
argue it would be better to pursue Medicaid reforms instead of expanding
the program.

On the other side, Democrats, in a rare alliance with a
Republican governor, applauded Kasich for embracing a cornerstone of
President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.

Under Obamacare, the federal government asked states to
expand their Medicaid programs to cover anyone at or below 138 percent
of the federal poverty level, or individuals with an annual income of
$15,856.20 or less. If states accept, the federal government pays for
the full expansion through fiscal year 2016, and then gradually phases down its
payments to an indefinite 90 percent of the expansion’s costs.

In comparison, the Kaiser Family Foundation found the federal government paid for nearly 64 percent of Ohio’s Medicaid program in fiscal year 2013.

The expansion is necessary to fill a so-called “coverage
gap” under Obamacare and Ohio law. Without the expansion, parents with
incomes between 90 percent and 100 percent of the federal poverty level
and childless adults with incomes below 100 percent of the federal
poverty level don’t qualify for either Obamacare’s tax credits or
Medicaid.

The Health Policy Institute of Ohio previously found
the expansion would insure between 300,000 and 400,000 Ohioans through
fiscal year 2015. If legislators approve the expansion beyond that, the
institute says it would generate $1.8 billion for Ohio and insure nearly
half a million Ohioans over the next decade.

The federally funded expansion is set to begin in 2014. It will cost the federal government nearly $2.6 billion, according to the Ohio Department of Medicaid.

Becker worried a same-sex marriage case will turn U.S. socialist, make him cry

When my brother and I were little kids, we used to play
board games all the time, and because I was older and smarter I usually
won. Back in those days, my little bro didn’t really understand the
concept of sportsmanship and he would sometimes defiantly flip over the entire Stratego
board when I started to win a game and get really close to finding his flag, and then he’d storm off and say I
cheated (I didn’t cheat, Dylan!).

Republican Rep. John Becker is pretty upset that a
terminally ill gay man has earned the right to die in peace, and now
it’s become a very real possibility that other gay Ohioans might also
get to die (and live) in peace. And, just like my brother, he’s kind of trying to
ruin the game for everyone just because he’s losing.

In July, Judge Timothy Black heard the case of Jim
Obergefell and John Arthur, a long-term gay couple who flew to Maryland
to marry at the beginning of the month because Arthur is terminally ill,
in hospice care, and not expected to live much longer.

Obergefell and Arthur sued the state of Ohio for
discrimination in not recognizing their out-of-state gay marriage, legal
and recognized in Maryland, when other gay couples residing in states
recognizing same-sex marriages and subsequently moved to Ohio would have
their marriages treated as valid. And because Arthur is terminally ill, it's just as much for the emotional connection as it is for any kind of economic benefit.

Here's what Obergefell wrote in his original complaint (grab a tissue):

“Our legacy as a married couple is very important to John
and me… in two or more generations our descendants will not know who we
are. Married couples, often through research based on death records,
have recognition for their special status forever. I want my descendants
generations from now who research their history to learn that I loved
and married John and that he loved and married me. They will know that
they had gay ancestor who was proud and strong and in love.”

In his ruling, Black called the case “not complicated,”
explaining that he’d allow the marriage to be legalized on Arthur’s
death certificate because it was likely a constitutional violation that
the state of Ohio treated lawful out-of-state same-sex marriages
differently than lawful out-of-state same-sex marriages.

In September, he ruled to allow the marriage of another gay
couple — David Michener and William Herbert Ives — after Ives
unexpectedly passed away in late August.Although these aren't (yet) blanket rulings, they're being interpreted as monumental victories for supporters of marriage equality.

Becker, then, decided to do the political equivalent of my
brother running to my mom and accusing me of cheating; he wrote U.S.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup and called for Black to be impeached for “malfeasance
and abuse of power,” which apparently made him really concerned about
the “federal government’s ever growing propensity to violate state
sovereignty.”

Unfortunately, though, U.S. District Court judges are
appointed for life, so since Becker’s claims against Judge Black are
totally unfounded, Black is free to continue to anger Becker and other people who don't approve of equality for gay couples.

Alphonse Gerhardstein, the attorney for both couples, calls Becker's response to the rulings "bullying."

"Federal judges are granted tenure for life for a reason. It's their job to enforce core principles even when the majority disagrees," he says. "Look at the Dred Scott case. I think most people would agree that's the worst case decision ever made by a judge, and even he didn't get impeached." (In case you forget, he's talking about Dred Scott v. Sandford, the landmark 1857 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ruled black people weren't citizens.)

Things that actually can get a judge impeached, says Gerhardstein, are offenses like having sex with a criminal defendant or taking bribes.

On Wednesday, Sept. 25, the court added licensed funeral director Robert Grunn, who is responsible for registering deaths and providing personal information to the state on what should go on a death certificate, to the list of plaintiffs. Grunn currently serves same-sex couples when he signs death certificates, says the lawsuit, including those with marriages recognized outside the state of Ohio. The lawsuit, if successful, could require all funeral directors to recognize gay clients as married on death certificates if they were legally married in a different state.

Gerhardstein also says since accepting Arthur and Obergefell's case, he and his colleagues have received inquiries from between 30 to 50 other gay couples seeking legal recognitions of their out-of-state marriages. For now, he says, he and his firm are concentrating on cases specifically involving recognizing same-sex marriages on death certificates, although this litigation could (and probably will) lead to other blanket rulings on how same-sex marriages are recognized in Ohio.

Kasich waiting to decide on expansion in Ohio despite federal funding

A new study by Harvard researchers has found that a 2001 and 2002
expansion of Medicaid coverage in Arizona, New York and Maine might have
saved lives. The study also concluded that the Medicaid expansion in
the three states improved coverage, access to care and self-reported
health.

The study found that mortality rates in the three states were
collectively 6.1 percent lower than states that did not expand Medicaid.
The decreased mortality rate mostly benefited older adults, nonwhites
and residents of poor counties.

Since they could only look at Arizona, New York and Maine, researchers
cautioned that the results might not be reflective of how a Medicaid
expansion would work in every state. However, previous research has
shown similar results. Earlier this year, results for the ongoing Oregon
Health Study
were released with more positive implications for people on Medicaid —
happier people, better self-reported health and stronger financial
security.

Despite the evidence, Gov. John Kasich has recently said he will wait on
his decision to expand Medicaid. As part of the Affordable Care Act —
also known as “Obamacare” — states are being asked to expand their
Medicaid coverage to a new federal standard of 133 percent of the
poverty line. The federal government would completely fund the expansion
between 2014 and 2016. Afterward, states would have to pick up 10
percent of the cost, and the federal government will pay the rest.

Kasich and Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor have said the expansion, which state
officials estimate would add 400,000 Ohioans to Medicaid enrollment, is
too expensive for the state. On June 28, Taylor told The Cleveland Plain Dealer,
“Quite frankly we're not sure where we're going to get the money from
to cover the additional obligation of spending, let alone have the
discussion about the expansion of Medicaid.”

But some research has suggested that the Medicaid expansion would
actually save states money by mitigating the cost of having so many
uninsured people. The Arkansas Department of Human Services claims the
state would save $378 million by 2025 with the Medicaid expansion. Most
of the savings would come from uncompensated care — costs that are
placed on health institutions and state and local governments when
uninsured patients that can’t and don’t pay use medical services. The
Urban Institute released a study in 2011 with similar results.

Ohio is not the only state to show skepticism toward the Medicaid
expansion. After the Supreme Court released its decision upholding
Obamacare, state officials in Texas and Florida said they will not take
part in the Medicaid expansion. State governments have until Nov. 10 to
make a final decision on whether or not they will take part in the
Medicaid expansion.